Justice News

Boscobel Man Sentenced For Distributing Morphine

MADISON, WIS. -- John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Craig D. Bellis, 34, Boscobel, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Lynn S. Adelman to 60 months in federal prison without parole, to be followed by six years of supervised release, for distributing morphine. Bellis pleaded guilty to this charge on April 15, 2014.

Bellis sold four morphine pills on three occasions in April 2013 to a confidential informant working with the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force. The purchases from Bellis were part of ongoing investigation into morphine distribution in the Boscobel area.

On May 20, 2014, Brent A. Venglish, 46, and Thomas Kussmaul, 24, both of Boscobel, were each sentenced to a four-month prison term, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, for their distribution of morphine in Boscobel. On April 15, 2014, Mary Grant, 64, also of Boscobel, was sentenced to two years of probation for her role in the distribution of morphine in the area.

Information developed during the investigation demonstrated that Bellis distributed additional amounts of morphine between August 2011 and March 2013. The defendant’s advisory sentencing range under the federal sentencing guidelines was 188 to 235 months in prison due his status as a career offender because of prior drug trafficking convictions.

The charge against Grant was the result of an investigation by the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force; Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation; and Boscobel Police Department. The prosecution of this case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter M. Jarosz.